Students reach plateaus during flight training for all different types of reasons.

- Money

- Time

- Opportunity

- Studying

- Negative training

... and the list goes on. There are multiple factors that can have a negative effect on flight training. Let's talk about how to overcome them.

Pictured above is one of our students James that recently passed a check ride. James is one of the common examples of reaching a learning plateau. He actually had all the ground knowledge he needed, studied at home, had the finances to fly...but he just didn't have the time.

Just a small insight into him, his full time job requires him to leave the country for extended periods of time (aka no flight training while he's gone).

This meant lessons had to be redone after forgetting what was previously learned, solo endorsements had to be reissued constantly etc.

BUT he persevered! The timing finally lined up, endorsements stayed current, and the check ride was passed like a breeze on his first try.

Now let's talk about some other examples of why students reach plateaus. One of the most common that we (as instructors) see is they study at home like they're supposed to, have the time opportunity and finances to fly....and then just keep struggling to get a maneuver down in flight. The actual performance of something is where the plateau occurs.

Here's what's not to do: we always hear the famous saying "if you don't succeed try and try again." Well, this is true but not in this case. Take a break from trying it and go do something else for a change.

Let's say for example as a commercial student you're struggling with chandelles. Don't spend 5 flight lessons in a row trying to get them down! For the next 2-3 lessons go do literally anything else BUT chandelles, and then go back to try them again. Most of the time you're just overthinking the maneuver and can't get past the barrier that's unconsciously stopping you. Taking a break from it and then coming back to try it again will 99% of the time help accomplish the goal.

The next common barrier....finances. Let's be honest, flight training is not cheap no matter how you look at it. Having to try and pay for each lesson as you go can slow down training a lot...especially if you can only afford one lesson each week or two. The learning curve best happens when you fly 2-3 times a week. So if you reach a learning plateau, one of the reasons could be you're just not flying often enough. The solution to this: SAVE UP. Save up to where you can get through multiple lessons at a time without having to take a break and you'll see a world of a difference.

To add to the fact that you should fly often, let's keep flying as much as we can during this pandemic! If you can afford it, help out your FBOs by stopping by and buying some fuel on your trips. Aviation is struggling during the virus right now so little things like this help make a big difference.

To conclude, there are various situations that can cause a learning plateau and the solution depends on what's causing it. If you're experiencing this right now feel free to comment and let's come up with a game plan to overcome it!